A new player will enter the local barbershop game on Saturday with plans to soon double team Rochester.
After a warming up for a couple of months, nine stylists will start clipping at the new Sports Clipssalon at 8 a.m. on Saturday, according to co-owner Steve Ogren. He owns it with his wife, Anne Ogren.
The male-focused barber shop franchise is located at 414 Crossroads Drive, right next to the popular Nupa Mediterranean Cuisine eatery.
The concept follows the traditional barber shop walk-in model, with lots of large-screen TVs showing sports and stylists dressed in pro jerseys. They also feature basket court-style hardwood floors. A "MVP" treatment includes shampoo, haircut, hot towel and a neck and shoulder massage.
Texas-based Sport Clips, one of the fastest growing franchises in the U.S., already has 39 locations in Minnesota. This will be the first in the southeastern area, but the Ogrens already have plans in the works to double down on Rochester.
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Building permits already have been submitted for a second location by the Buffalo Wild Wingsin the Northwest Plazacenter along 55th Street Northwest.
He hopes to start construction on that one soon and open it sometime in the first quarter of 2016.
The Twin Cities-based Ogrens say they decided to open Sport Clips in Rochester because it seems to fit well with the city.
"It's a growing big city with a small town community feel," Steve Orgen said in September. — Jeff Kiger
